Maternal stress and behavior modulate relationships between neonatal stress, attention, and basal cortisol at 8 months in preterm infants
- 13 February 2007
- journal article
- Published by Wiley in Developmental Psychobiology
- Vol. 49 (2), 150-164
- https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.20204
Abstract
There is evidence that the developmental trajectory of cortisol secretion in preterm infants is altered, with elevated basal cortisol levels observed postnatally through at least 18 months corrected age (CA). This alteration is possibly due to neonatal pain-related stress. High cortisol levels might contribute to greater risk of impaired neurodevelopment. Since maternal factors are important for the regulation of infant stress responses, we investigated relationships between infant (neonatal pain-related stress, attention, cortisol) and maternal (stress, interactive behaviors) factors at age 8 months CA. We found that interactive maternal behaviors buffered the relationship between high neonatal pain-related stress exposure and poorer focused attention in mothers who self-reported low concurrent stress. Furthermore, in preterm infants exposed to high concurrent maternal stress and overwhelming interactive maternal behaviors, higher basal cortisol levels were associated with poor focused attention. Overall, these findings suggest that maternal factors can influence the cognitive resilience at 8 months of preterm infants exposed to early life stress.Keywords
This publication has 105 references indexed in Scilit:
- Altered Basal Cortisol Levels at 3, 6, 8 and 18 Months in Infants Born at Extremely Low Gestational AgeThe Journal of Pediatrics, 2007
- Maternal Psychological Distress During Pregnancy in Relation to Child Development at Age TwoChild Development, 2006
- Neonatal adrenal function after repeat dose prenatal corticosteroids: A randomized controlled trialAmerican Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2006
- Maternal behavior and maternal stress are associated with infant behavioral development in macaquesDevelopmental Psychobiology, 2005
- School Difficulties at Adolescence in a Regional Cohort of Children Who Were Extremely Low Birth WeightPediatrics, 2000
- Parent-Child Interactions and Development of Toddlers Born PretermWestern Journal of Nursing Research, 1999
- Assessing Salivary Cortisol in Studies of Child DevelopmentChild Development, 1998
- Early relationships as regulators of infant physiology and behaviorActa Paediatrica, 1994
- THE EFFECTS OF MOTHER'S PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL UNAVAILABILITY ON EMOTION REGULATIONMonographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 1994
- Attachment, temperament, and adrenocortical activity in infancy: A study of psychoendocrine regulation.Developmental Psychology, 1989